Crooks blasted for "callous act" that has left landowner with a costly problem

Crooks cut a lorry-sized hole in an empty warehouse then unloaded tonnes of rubbish inside.

It is believed the chancers drove into the building before illegally dumping the gigantic heaps of domestic and industrial waste.

The fly-tippers left 1,000 cubic ft of rubbish in the depot, according to the Environment Agency.

Tracy Nash, from the agency,said: "This callous act has endangered the environment and had a costly impact for the landowner.

Environment Agency/Flickr

Environment Agency staff assess the waste

"This is not a matter of small-scale fly-tipping. This case appears to be intentional large-scale avoidance of disposal costs.

"If an innocent party has handed it to a contractor for disposal in good faith then they won’t be in any trouble and may have critical information for us."

It is believed the waste was dumped at the depot in Dunstable, Beds, at night in November but it was only discovered in January. The EA is now calling for anyone with information about the crime to come forward.

The waste is still in the warehouse though it will be removed soon - at the landowner’s expense.